Precious metals declined on Friday, resulting in weekly losses for all but platinum which still advanced nearly 8% to extend its winning streak to three weeks in a row. Weekly losses for gold, silver and palladium were their first in three.
Gold for August delivery fell $21.20, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,850.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Over the past week, spot gold rose slightly above the upper end of its trading range between the $1800 and $1850 area," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, in a note reported by MarketWatch. "We continue see this trading range prevailing in the near-term as the dollar’s strength caps the market’s ability to break out from the trading range."
Gold prices dipped 0.4% this week after increases of 0.5% last week and 1.9% in the week ending May 20. On Thursday, the yellow metal notched a one-month settlement high. Gold is 1.2% higher on the year to date.
In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"This week 15 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, seven analysts, or 47%, called for gold prices to rise next week. At the same time, five analysts, or 36%, were bearish on gold in the near term, and three analysts, or 20%, were neutral on prices.
Meanwhile, 637 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 448 respondents, or 70%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 117, or 18%, said lower, while 72 voters, or 11%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery dropped 36.7 cents, or 1.7%, to close at $21.908 an ounce. Silver prices shed 0.9% this week following gains of 2% last week and 3.2% in the week ending May 20. Like gold, silver prices ended Thursday at their best level in a month. They are now 6.2% lower on the year.
In PGM prices on Friday and for the week:
-
July platinum lost $12, or 1.2%, to end at $1,016.40 an ounce, but posted a 7.8% weekly gain.
- Palladium for September delivery tumbled $61.60, or 3%, to end at $1,985.90 an ounce, for a 3.4% weekly loss
Both metals are higher on the year so far with advances of 5.2% for platinum and 3.9% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged this week. Last week, the Mint reported gains of:
- 46,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles
- 15,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos
- American Silver Eagles were flat
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday / Week / June | Last Week | March | April | May | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 44,500 | 140,500 | 80,500 | 137,500 | 568,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 58,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 14,000 | 8,000 | 110,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 75,000 | 25,000 | 50,000 | 370,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,500 | 64,500 | 27,500 | 52,000 | 234,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,080,500 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 9,281,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 14,200 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoinNews will take a one-week break from publishing precious metals pricing articles.
It’s lonely without Kaiser Wilhelm and SENSA. They made these comments interesting.
Hi Antonio,
I miss them too, but one thing I do not miss is the insults SENZA used to throw around when you dared to disagree or point out inconsistencies in his statements. I do not think I have witnessed an insult on this site since SENZA went AWOL. I am finding that aspect of his absence pleasant. I do miss his point of view, though.
Yes, not all his comments were insults. It’s much quieter now.
Crickets…
It really is a much quieter time here in the comments section. Their meme usage and AC/DC references are sorely missed though I too could do without the occasional political commentary.
Yes, agree. Also Rich’s Crickets. I thought to add that but then decided not to. Glad someone did. It’s like my basement after dark, but we won’t go there.